Abstract
ABSTRACT Traumatic events such as a motor vehicle accident or falling from heights are very common in veterinary medicine and often lead to vertebral fracture-luxation with concomitant spinal cord injuries, mostly in the thoracolumbar spine. The purpose of this cadaveric biomechanical study was to determine the feasibility of the three-column concept in canine thoracolumbar segments with induced fractures. Eighteen Functional Spinal Units (FSU) of the thoracolumbar segments (T12-L2) were collected from 18 medium-sized adult dog cadavers and were subjected to flexion-extension and lateral bending tests so that range of motion (ROM) was recorded with a goniometer. Fractures were induced by compressive loads applied by a universal testing machine (EMIC®). After this, specimens were screened using computed tomography (CT) and the fractures were graded as affecting one, two or three columns, and divided into groups A, B, and C, respectively. Post-fracture range of motion (ROM) was compared with the previous results. Groups B and C (with fractures in two or three columns) had instability in the two axes evaluated (P<0.05). The outcomes of this study support the applicability of the three-column theory to thoracolumbar spines of dogs, as the FSUs that suffered fractures in two or more columns showed axial instability.
Highlights
Vertebral fractures or luxation with concomitant spinal cord injuries are very common in veterinary medicine and due to anatomical and biomechanical features, 52 to 58% of these injuries affect the thoracolumbar spine
Due to scarce of biomechanical studies of the thoracolumbar spine in veterinary medicine and because there are important anatomic differences between humans and dogs (Figure 1), the objective of this study was to assess the applicability of the three-column concept to thoracolumbar fractures in spinal units from dog cadavers
Flexion-extension range of motion (ROM) of the fifteen intact specimens ranged from 14° to 30° with 23% of variation
Summary
Vertebral fractures or luxation with concomitant spinal cord injuries are very common in veterinary medicine and due to anatomical and biomechanical features, 52 to 58% of these injuries affect the thoracolumbar spine. The well-known three-column concept was first proposed in medicine by Denis, (1983), in a retrospective radiological documentation. This theory was adapted by Shores et al, (1990) to veterinary medicine almost three decades ago without proper biomechanical validation. Since it has been considered one of the main classification systems of spinal fractures in dogs and cats (Jeffery, 2010; Fletcher et al, 2016; Weh and Kraus, 2018)
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